Israel: Natural Gas Bonanza Buoys Economy

The geopolitical significance of being self-sufficient in energy cannot be overstated, as Israel learned the hard way during the Arab oil embargo of 1973 much like its bigger ally, the U.S. Since then, energy independence became the defining factor of Israelís government policy.-Thomas White International

From being an energy-deficient nation, Israel is poised to become a leading gas exporter in the region in the years ahead.

Israel may be the biblical land of milk and honey, but the Jewish nation has remained woefully short of natural resources, especially oil and natural gas. In fact, even former prime minister Golda Meir is said to have famously joked that Moses led Israelites through the barren desert for 40 years to a land that promised them virtually nothing, not even oil. Though the countryís economic and military achievements have been the envy of many a neighboring oil-rich Arab nation, Israelís thirst for energy has remained unquenched.†

The geopolitical significance of being self-sufficient in energy cannot be overstated, as Israel learned the hard way during the Arab oil embargo of 1973 much like its bigger ally, the U.S. Since then, energy independence became the defining factor of Israelís government policy.